Across the nation.

Tissue-shrinking Device May End Snoring

CALIFORNIA — A Sunnyvale company has received Food and Drug Administration approval for an anti-snoring device that shrinks tissues blocking the air passages of the sleep-deprived.

Somnus Medical Technologies was expected to announce the approval of its technology Tuesday. The device aims to cure snoring and a more serious ailment, sleep apnea, a recurrent halting of breath that can wake sufferers repeatedly or, rarely, suffocate them.

Forty million Americans -- more than one in seven -- suffer from habitual snoring.

The Somnoplasty technology the company uses to treat sleep apnea works at relatively low temperatures and leaves outer tissue -- such as taste buds -- intact.

A radio frequency generator connected to a narrow needle penetrates the surface of the tongue, throat or soft palette and destroys a small area of inner tissue by generating a heat of 158 to 176 degrees, well below the boiling point.